A Woman After God's Own Heart - Chapter 9

A Heart That Values Being A Mother

Photo Courtesy of David Castillo Dominici/freedigitalphotos

Being a mom is the most amazing and rewarding job a woman could ever have.  What a blessing it is to be given the opportunity to be a mother. God has passionately given us a role with countless loving tasks and kindness for our children.  How great is our God that He has trusted us mom's with such an important assignment and responsibility.

I love reading the book of Proverbs.  One of my favorite verses is the one below that describes the woman we all desire to be..

Proverbs 31:25-30 She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come. She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue.  She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.  Her children arise and call her blessed;     her husband also, and he praises her: “Many women do noble things,     but you surpass them all.”  Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

What I most love about this verse is that it is a blessing...one which all of us, as mothers, desire.   This is the description of a woman who loves and follows Gods commands in her role as a woman, wife and mother.

God's word tells us that we are to teach our children.  Deuteronomy 6:6-7 gives us instructions in teaching our children.

Deuteronomy 6:6-7 “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.  You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.

This scripture is quite clear that the primary responsibility to teach our children belong to us parents.  In order for us to teach our children Gods word we must first and foremost have that passion for His word. Gods word should be in our hearts before we can share and teach our children.  We cannot teach something we have no knowledge in.  We cannot speak with passion if it is not felt from within.

How does a mother teach her child God's word? First we have to make some serious decisions and assess what are we doing as parents to teach our kids the bible. Are we even taking the time to teach them at all?  Are we taking the time to dwell in his word ourselves so we can teach our children?  And the list of questions can go on and on. Teaching our kids should be a priority.  We need to focus on building a home that honors our Lord and this includes having a passion for His word so we can pass this on to our children. As mothers we need to recognize our role of a teacher.  Our assignment is to sow the seeds of loving God in the hearts of our children.  When I think of how I am sowing  seeds of love and truth in my children's hearts I can tell you I am not doing enough.  Although something is better than nothing, I need to make some serious decisions and not underestimate the importance and urgency of planting Gods word and truth in my children's heart.

We all have busy lives, I know I do.  I also know that as a Woman After Gods Heart I want to live for my Lord and Savior and glorify Him in all I do.  As mothers we get weary of the duty of being a mom but I tell you this, we need to remain focus on God's word and know that at the end of our hard work is a great blessing. 

Commit today to make some serious decisions and make teaching God's word to our children a priority in your life.  I pray that our Lord and Savior gives you the wise counsel and guidance to teach your children the bible so that the seeds we sow can be passed on from generation to generation. May we always be mindful that teaching our children is a never-ending assignment and we must do it with great joy.  I pray that the fruit of this great blessing is having children that love, serve, honor and glorify God in all they do.  
Blessings,

A Woman After God's Own Heart - Chapters 5 - 8

A HEART THAT SERVES, FOLLOWS, RESPECT AND LOVES     

These past few weeks we've read and discussed how to serve, follow, respect and love our husbands.  I have to say these four chapters were extremely challenging as we all tried to apply some of the tips given by Elizabeth George.  I find it amazing the transformation that is taking place in these ladies.  Having a heart to submit, serve and making our husband’s number one was not easy for some of the ladies.   This topic touched me in so many ways since it was an area that I struggled with in the past.  Loving my husband was the easy part being submissive was not.  As women we love and adore our husbands and want nothing more but to serve, follow, and respect them but only when we want to.  Doing this study on husbands gave us all the understanding that these commands to serve, follow, respect, and love our husbands are not commands from our husbands but God's commands.  If we are to be women after God's own heart we need to be willing to do and follow God's will for our husbands and not ours. 

I was able to relate with the struggles the ladies were experiencing.  In today’s society woman are more independent and feel just as equal as men.  They feel being submissive with our husbands is demeaning, degrading and uncomfortable.  They saw submission as something women did back in the old days when women really did not have a voice or much rights. I have to say that this is exactly what I use to think.  I grew up in a home where my mom taught me to be independent.  She taught my sisters and I that getting an education was very important so we can earn a good living and never have to depend on a man. I took to heart all these motherly advices and because of them submission was extremely difficult for me. 

Having that mentality I can tell you only caused headaches in my marriage.  As women we need to understand that the husband's role as head of the household does not mean domination over his wife, but instead it is the husband's God given responsibility to provide  a caring leadership to ensure the physical, emotional and spiritual needs for his wife and children.  As a wife our role to serve our husbands does not mean serving him as an "inferior" but instead serving him with a willing heart to accept his loving role as head of household in our homes. 

When I read the scripture that Paul wrote in Colossians 3: Wives, submit to your own husbands, as is fitting in the Lord....And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that form the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ".  I know in my heart that I am doing God's will and not mine.

As women we are always desiring to have a stronger and happy marriage.  If that is the case for you, ask God to give you faith to believe and trust in Him.  Not only will following God's word bless your marriage, but it will also prepare you to be more Christ like.  Jesus Christ lived in constant submission to His Father's will.

When I gave my life to our Lord and Savior I knew changes were going to have to take place.  Some of these changes are changes that I knew I was going to have to make myself and one of them was my relationship with my husband.  In my heart I know my mom had all the best intentions for me and my sisters.  She taught us to be strong and independent.  She loved, cared and protected us the best she can but what she didn't teach us was God's commands as wives.  She didn't teach us His commands because she didn't want to but because she didn't know God's word back than.  As women of God, we know His word.  It should be our hearts desire to honor and follow God's word.

Ladies lets love our husbands and make him #1 in our life.  Pray for him daily.  You will experience the power of prayer and realize that praying for your husband will strengthen your marriage and will change your heart to serve, follow, respect and love your husband more each day.  

To sum it up if we truly love our husbands with all our hearts doing the above should not be a challenge when we do it whole heartily.  Keep in mind always that our husbands may not be perfect but than again neither are we.  Keep in mind that when we serve, follow, respect and love our husbands like we are commanded to do we are honoring and glorifying our Lord and Savior.  In wanting to be a woman after God's own heart  we have to have a heart that desires doing God's will.

I pray that as you begin displaying your love for your husband that your love for him grows deeper each day.  

Blessings,

GOING THROUGH THAT SPIRITUAL DRY SEASON

Going Through That Spiritual Dry Season…..What Are You Going To Do About IT………

The truth is that we have all been there. When we are in that dry season we feel as if the walls seem to close in around us. You feel that disappointment and confusion of not knowing why we are feeling so disconnected from God. Our desire for God, our desire to pray and worship become dormant and stale. I want to tell you don't be discouraged. When you start to feel this way instead of getting into that self-pity mood, ask yourself what are you going to do about it?

The truth of the matter is that we have choices……you can see it as that “Quiet Time”. You can use that time to reflect on your life’s circumstances that need pruning. Or you can continue your spiritual discipline. During this dry season when you pray you might feel like you are not feeling anything or reading the bible is the last thing you feel like doing. It is more important than ever that during this dry season that you exercise your faith in God. Stop questioning yourself why this is happening and instead see it that God is simply allowing this dry season so that you will shift your focus from your life’s circumstances and begin longing and seeking after Him.

In Psalms 63 David compares his longing for God to the thirst of a man wandering in a dry wilderness, desperate for water.

Psalms 63:1-3  O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary. Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.

In reading this passage David chose to not have self-pity for himself. He chose not to dwell in feeling dry and disconnected from God. Instead he chose to praise God in his dry place by focusing on God’s loving kindness, in which he said is better than life. His yearning for the presence and glory of God grew stronger in the midst of dry circumstances.

When you go through a dry season, do like David did, and praise God through your dry season. I truly believe that during our dry season God is doing work in us that is unseen and unfelt. When I think about this it gets me excited. This dry season is not a life sentence but an experience that will eventually pass. Spiritual dryness is not necessarily a bad thing. We must always remember that God is sovereign and is actively working for our growth and good. If you are going through this, choose today to quench your body, mind and soul with God's word. Choose today to be joyful in knowing that He is working in our lives. Choose today to get excited and look forward to see what God has in store for you.

Blessings,